Doubling machine



1944. L. F. JREMINGTQN ETAL 62 DOUBLING MAQHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet} Filed Aug. 17, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet DOUBLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 17, 1943 L. F.' REMINGTON ET AL Nov. 14, 1944.

Patented Nov. 14, 1944 ration of Massachusetts UNITED] STATES PATENT: OFFICE DOUBLING MACHINE.

Leland F. Remington andCharlesH. Coolidge,

Worcester, Mass, assig riors to Curtis& Marble Machine Company, Worcester, Mass. a corpo- Application August 17, 1943, Serial No. 499,912 p 11 Claims. (01. 270-94) This invention relates to a machine for doubling or folding a strip of textile fabric along a plurality of longitudinal or warp-Wise lines.

It is an important object of our invention to provide an improved machine by which either.

to the center line in the first doubling operation,

and by which the selvages will be entirely concealed in the second doubling operation.

A further feature of our invention comprises an improved double-folding device or peak frame by which the folding tensions at the oppo: site selvages are balanced and lateral deviation of the cloth is substantially avoided. Other features relate to devices by which the machine may be quickly and easily adapted to fold different widths of cloth and to accurately position the fold lines transversely in the fabric.

Our invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be herein after described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form ofthe invention is shown in the drawings, in which i Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our bling machine; i

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a special double folding device or peak frame;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevation of the device shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a partial plan View, looking in the direction of the arrow 4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a single folding device or doubling frame; p

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing successive steps in producing an eight-ply folded fabric;

Fig. 7 is a similar view showing successive steps inproducing a four-ply folded fabric; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional plan view, taken along the line 8-8 in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 6, the operations to be performed in producing the eight-ply folded fabric are as follows:

The full-width cloth C is first double-folded in such a way that both selvage edgs are folded toward the center as indicated at CI. The cloth is then similarly folded a second time, so that the doubled outer edge portions of the cloth Cl are folded toward the center as indicated at C2 The fabric is then subjected to a final singlefolding or doubling operation, by which the layers of fabric assume the position shown at C3,

improved doue with the selvage edges effectually concealed within the final folded product.

For a, four-ply fabric, the operations illustrated in Fig. 7 are performed, with the fabricF first j double-folded to the position shown at Fl and with the selvages at the center. After this,

a simple tsingle-folding. or doubling operation bringsthe layers to the position shown at F2, in which form also the selvage edges are entirely concealed within the final folded product.

Either the four-ply or theeight-ply product may be made as a single continuous operation by use of the machine shown in Fig. 1, which comprises a feeding or unwinding stand S, a first double-folding device or peak frame D, a second double-folding device or pea k frame DI, a singlefolding ordoubling device D2, and a cloth-disposal device G. a

The clothis unwound at full width from a roll R which rests on drums 20 and H connected by a belt or chain 22 and driven by a belt or chain 23 from a drive shaft 24, the gudgeon 25 of the roll R. being guided vertically between spaced uprights 26. g

The cloth as it leaves theroll R passes around successive guide-rolls 30, 3I ,and 32 by which it is conducted'to the first double-folding device orpeakframell a b I As the cloth passes through the double-folding device D, it assumes the condition shown at CI in Fig. 6 or at Fl in Fig. 7. The doubled cloth then passes arounda guide-roll 35 and between a draft roll 36'and a pressor roll 3'1.

If an eight-ply fabric is to be produced, the doubled cloth Cl then passes around a guide-roll 38 to a second double-folding device or peak frame Dl,'in which it'is again double-folded as shown at C2 in Fig. 6.

The four-ply fabric C2 then passes around a lower guide-roll 40 and between a draft roll 4| and a pressor roll 42. Thefabric' C2 then passes around a guide-1701144 to the single-folding or doubling device D2 which delivers the eight-ply fabric C3 to a guide-roll 45, from which it passes I to a roll R. resting on winding drums and 5|.

similar to the drums 20 and 2| previously described.

If the final product is to be a four-ply fabric as shown in Fig. 7, the double-folded fabric Fl delivered from the first double-folding device or peak frame D is passed direct from the pressor roll 31 to the guide-roll 46 and thence to the guide-roll 44, thus lay-passing the second doublefolding device or peak frame DI.

Our machine is thus perfectly adapted to pro- Cll The device D2 is shown in Fig. 5 as comprising 7 an inclined folding bar 60, a horizontal bar El, and a second oppositely inclined and forwardly displaced folding bar 62. In the doubling operation, the cloth C2 (or F2) is brought up behind the folding bar 60 and the horizontal bar 6|.

The left-hand portion of the cloth is then folded horizontally across the front of the inclined bar 1 60, while the right-hand portion is folded downward over the horizontal bar 6|.

The right-hand portion then passes downward behind the second inclined bar 62, while the lefthand portion is again folded rearward and downward around the second bar 62 to bring it to reversed upright position behind the bar 62 and in front of the right-hand portion. This singlefolding device or doubling frame D2 is standard practice and in itself forms no part of our present invention.

The double-folding device or peak frame D (or DI) is, however, of special construction and forms an important and novel part of our invention. The construction and operation of one of these devices is clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

- Each double-folding device comprises a pair of inclined folding bars 10 and 1|. The bar 10 is joined with a horizontal top bar 12, an inclined brace 14 and a second inclined folding bar 1-6.

The bar H is joined with a horizontal top bar 13,

an inclined brace 15, and a second inclined folding bar H. i The lowerends of the inclined bars 10 and H are secured to threaded blocks 80 and 81. The lower ends of the brace 14 and the folding bar It are secured to a threaded block 82, and the lower end of the-brace 15 and the folding bar 71 are secured to a, threaded block 83. The blocks 80 and 82 have right-hand threads and are mounted on portions'of a two-part shaft 86 having corresponding threads, while the blocks 81 and 83 are provided with left-hand threads and are mounted on-corresponding left-hand threaded portions of the shaft 86. V

Forked guide blocks 88 are secured to the threaded blocks 80 to 8 3 respectively by connections 89, and the forked blocks 88 embrace and are guided by a fixed cross shaft 90.

At its right-hand end, the threaded shaft "'86 is reduced in diameter and passes througha sleeve 92 which is threaded in a fixed frame member 93. A hand wheel 95 is mounted on the reduced outer end of the shaft 86, and a second hand wheel-98 is mounted on the sleeve 92.

By turning the hand wheel 96 and sleeve 92,

- the entire double-folding device or peak frame D may be shifted as a unit to the right or to the left, whereas by turning the hand wheel 95 the two folding frame members may be drawn together or moved apart to accommodate fabric of different widths.

The lower ends of thefolding bars 16 and 11 are transversely slotted to permit slight adjustments of the angles of the folding bars. Slight adjustments of the folding bars 10 and I! may be made by adjusting the fold rods Illa and Ila mounted thereon; These folding bars are all substantially at but slight variations-are nec- 'essary on account'of the fact that the cloth is displaced out of its original plane during the folding operation by the thickness of the folding bars.

It will be apparent from Fig. 2 that the cloth C is first drawn up behind the folding bars 10 and H, that each selvage portion is folded horizontally forward and toward the center, and that the middle part of the cloth is folded forward and downward around the horizontal bars 12 and 13. Each of these selvage portions is thereafter folded rearward and downward around the second folding bars 16 and 11, thus bringing the cloth to the condition shown at CI, in which the cloth is double-thickness but with both selvages turned 1 in to the center of the folded fabric.

The turning in of both selvages as a single operation has the very important advantage previously suggested that the tensions on both edges of the fabric are equalized so that lateral deviation of the fabric is substantially eliminated. The provision of the hand wheel 96 permits adjustment during the continued operation of the machine to equalize the two folded selvages so that they will meet accurately adjacent the center line of the fabric. The provision of the second hand wheel'95, together with the expansible peak frame construction, permits the folding machine to be quickly and easily adapted to fold fabrics of substantially different widths and the by-pass arrangement permits a four-fold or an eightfold fabric to be produced when'and as desired.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what we claim is:

1. In a doubling machine, a double-folding device comprising two pairs of laterally spaced and oppositely inclined folding bars, and a transverse folding member extending between the outer inclined bars .at their more closely adjacent ends, and said inner inclined folding bars being disposed in separate but parallel planes.

2. In a doubling machine, a double-folding device comprising two pairs of laterally spaced and oppositely inclined folding bars. and a transverse folding member extending between the outer inclined bars at their more closely adjacent ends, and the inner inclined bars of both .pairs being displaced from the plane of the outer inclined bars and of the transverse member.

3. In a doubling machine, a double-folding device comprising two pairs of laterally spaced and oppositely inclined folding bars, and a transverse folding member extending between the outer inclined bars at their more closely adjacent ends, the outer inclined bars and the transverse members being disposed in one plane and the inner inclined bars being disposed. in a second plane parallel to but spaced from said first plane.

4. In a doubling machine, a double-folding device comprising two pairs of laterally spacedand oppositely inclined folding bars, and a transverse folding member extending between the outer inclined bars at their more closely adjacent ends, said transverse member comprising two adjacent portions each constituting a folding unit with one of said pairs of inclined bars, and said folding units being relatively laterally movable to adapt said double-folding device to fold different widths of sheet material.

5. The combination in a doubling machine as set forth in claim 4, in which manual means is provided to move said units simultaneously laterally but inoppositedirections to adjust the folding width.

6. The combination in a doubling machine as set forth in claim 4, in which manual means is provided to move said units simultaneously laterally but in opposite directions to adjust the folding width, and in which additional manual means is provided to move said units simultaneously in the same lateral direction to shift the operative locus of the double-folding device.

7. A doubling machine comprising two associated folding units each having a pair of oppositely inclined folding bars and a transverse folding portion, the transverse portions of said two units coacting as a single folding member, and said units being laterally separable to vary the efiective length of said transverse folding member for different widths of sheet material.

8. A doubling machine comprising two associated folding units each having a pair of oppositely inclined folding bars and a transverse folding portion, the transverse portions of said two units coacting as a single folding member, and a single manual means effective to change the lateral spacing of said units and the length of said transverse folding member by moving said units simultaneously laterally in opposite directions.

9. In a doubling machine, a double-folding device comprising two associated folding units each having a pair of oppositely inclined folding bars and a transverse folding portion, the transverse folding member, manual means to change the lateral spacing of said units to vary the folding width, and additional manual means to shift the locus of said two associated units laterally to center the fold lines in the folded product.

10. In a doubling machine, adouble-folding device comprising two associated folding units, each unit comprising a pair of oppositely inclined folding bars, a transverse folding portion, and a brace member in each unit connected through said transverse portion to one of the inclined bars and adjustable to vary the folding angle thereof.

11. A cloth doubling machine comprising a double folding device by which both selvages of a strip of cloth may be simultaneously folded toward the center, a doubling frame, a second and similar double folding device interposed between.

said first double folding device and said doubling frame, means to draw said strip of cloth through said double folding devices and through said doubling frame successively and continuously, and, guide-rolls for said doubling machine by which i the cloth may be selectively guided either through or around said second double folding device.

LELAND F. REMINGTON. CHARLES H. COOLIDGE. 

